News: “Flying is like good music: it elevates the spirit and it's an exhilarating freedom. It's not a thrill thing or an adrenaline rush; it's engaging in a process that takes focus and commitment." - Harrison Ford

Pacific Northwest Flying is the region's premiere web portal for pilots and aviation enthusiasts, a friendly, free, hassle-free community where pilots and others who love aviation gather online to interact and learn from each other about flying in the coolest part of North America: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. We're glad you've found us, and we hope you'll become a regular visitor and an active participant.

Who are we?We're mostly pilots and owners of small, "general aviation" aircraft (sometimes abbreviated as "GA"), and others who share a love of flying. Non-pilots (and non-owners) with an interest in aviation are certainly very welcome, too -- we have student pilots (and wanna be pilots), along with pilots of widely varying levels of experience. If you're new to flying (or haven't even started yet but have been thinking about it), please feel welcome -- the experienced pilots here remember what it was like to be new to it all, and we promise to be gentle.

Because flying is often a regional activity rather than one strictly limited to a small geographic area, we take a regional approach here (hey, when you're moving along at more than 100 knots, you leave your immediate neighborhood and enter someone else's pretty quickly). For the most part we live in the Northwest states of the US and in BC (British Columbia, Canada), but we welcome participation from those who live elsewhere, too.

Why are we here?To exchange information, learn from each other, and share in a virtual, online community. The number of pilots is small compared to the general population, and without some way to connect to others with similar interests, it's easy to feel isolated. Here you can find supportive folks who will answer your flying questions, offer local advice about airports that may be far from your home base, and serve as a community resource, whether you're looking for a place to fly, a flight instructor, or just about anything aviation-related. It's sort of a "social networking" experience for pilots.

How you can participateAnyone is free to browse the messages posted here (aka "lurk"). If you want to participate in the conversations (and we hope you will), you'll need to register for an account (which is free, easy, and just takes a moment). Details on how to successfully accomplish that (which is pretty quick and easy) can be found in the Help section, under FAQs (click here).

RulesRules...in a knife fight?!We don't have many rules here, but we do have a few. They can be summed up pretty well as simply as "don't be a jerk." Well, there's a little more to it than that (some people need more specific guidance than others...). See below.

This forum is moderated.The moderators have no interest in acting as the Thought Police, but we do have an interest in making sure that people stay civil here. The online medium (that is, text) offers many advantages, but it's not perfect: it's very easy to misunderstand someone's intent. Sarcasm, irony, body language and other non-verbal clues often don't come across via fingers banging on keyboards. And, frankly, it's all too easy to dash off a comment that later you might wish you hadn't. These are some of the reasons why online discussions elsewhere often devolve into acidic flame-wars, full of acrimony and hostility. We try to avoid that stuff here.

Remember, although this is primarily an online community, in the real world, pilots form a pretty small group of people. If you're a pilot in the Northwest, the odds are, sooner or later you are going to cross paths with folks on this forum in the flesh, whether that's at a local airshow, or just hanging out at your airport. Knowing that one day you will probably end up face to face with the people you encounter online helps us stay on our best behavior (or it should). It also helps that people here are generally very nice anyway.

In case your social skills have been devolving because of time spent in other online venues, we have some guidelines on "netiquette" (suggestions for being on your best behavior) posted in the FAQ section here. New users, PLEASE READ IT.

There's no catchParticipation here is completely free. There are no membership fees, and no other costs. There are no advertisements. You will not be subjected to spam, and we are not snooping into your online habits to try and market anything to you. There are no strings attached. Really.

Need some help?Click here to go to the Help section, where you will find answers to the most common questions (such as how to create an account, how to log in to the forum, etc.) tips & tricks, and other ways to get help.